"You do what you feel you can do." Rene replied.

"I'm going to check my connections and see if anyone's seen anything." he told her. "My network runs deep. Deeper than people might think. I WILL find SOMETHING." he vowed.

"In the meantime, YOU be careful." he then warned her. "I don't know if there's anyone responsible for this, but if there is, then you might be in danger as well." he said.

"It depends on motives, really." he reasoned further. "But we know sweet eff all right now, so we need to be careful about what we do." he went on.

"We don't know if this is a grudge against her in specific, me, or you, or anyone else."

"Indeed." Rene replied.

"We don't know who is responsible for this, or what their motives are." he said.

"So we need to tread subtly." he told her.

"And I will let YOU know if I discover anything as well." he added.

"Now, let's find your sister." he finished, before he quickly said goodbye and ended the call.

'...now to get the word out to some people.' he thought to himself.

"......." Rene was silent, and sighed.

She went missing during a court recess, and all attempts to contact her have failed. he sent.

We don't know why, we don't know how. All we know is that Kalin is gone. Casey said she's going to do all she can, and I'm going to do the same. he sent further.

Call me if you want to talk more on it. he finished.

"...damn it all." he said quietly.

There was silence for a moment, before she heard the man she was looking for.

"One second." Ash called to her.

About a few seconds later, the door opened, revealing Ash, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans he'd hastily thrown on.

"Heh, just got back." he told her.

"Anyway, sup?" he asked.

"......" Ash was silent, before nodding.

"Right." he said.

"Sure thing." he told her.

"I'll do what I can." he promised.

"Just... contact me if you think it's needed." he went on, pausing for a moment.

"....missing, huh?" he then mumbled.

"That's... ominous."

Ash just sighed as well, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Ngh." he grunted.

"All right." he replied.

"I'll do what I can." he told her. "Like I said, if you don't need me, that's all the better, but I'm here for a bit, so come get me if you need me." he went on.

"...actually, I should probably get started on finding out the best way to go about this, should I be needed." he then muttered.

"So you do what you need to do, and I'll make sure I'm ready if need be." he added.

"That cool?" he asked.

Gregory looked over towards Madison, and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh?" he muttered.

"No... no, she shouldn't be..." he said.

"We would have known if she was." he went on, before snapping his fingers and summoning the book, floating in front of him. He then used a finger to do a quick flip, causing the pages to turn at an amazing speed, from one end to the other.

"Nope." he confirmed.

"Last 'Kiczys' in here is you."

"Mmmm.... not necessarily." Gregory replied.

"It depends on that the hunters believe." he told her.

"Remember, originally, hunters were created to destroy those that weren't human. And by that, I mean different species altogether." he continued.

"Some hunters think that that extends to anyone that actively wields mana, but many still think that humans, mana or no, are meant to live, with anything and anyone else must die." he went on.

"Of course, some may see mages as bargaining chips." he continued.

"Kalin's friendly with a LOT of non-humans. She'd be a big target for them, as nothing more than leverage."

"She must have more value to them alive." Gregory reasoned.

"Which means she's a bargaining chip or hostage." he said.

"And there's no need to worry RIGHT NOW." he corrected her. "We have no idea what will happen once they feel she's no longer useful." he reminded her.

"Not to sound doom and gloom, I'm just saying." he went on.

"Still... they must be skilled to have gotten her." he then mumbled, thinking it over.

"Kalin's crafty and vigilant, after all." he muttered further.

Gregory just sighed.

"It's called... 'Death's embrace'." he said.

"And yes, it's namesake is our profession." he told her. "If I mortal were to drink this, it would kill them immediately from alcohol poisoning." he informed her further.

"But alcohol does nothing for us, no matter how much I wish it would." he lamented.

"...at least it can't be said I'm an alcoholic." he then added with a laugh.